Despite popular opinion to the contrary, the data tends to support the OP's assertion - while the US has incurred substantial debt, particularly under the Reagan, GHW Bush, GW Bush and BH Obama Administrations, the CIA World Book ranked America's debt/GDP ratio at 37th (58.90% GDP) in 2010 - slightly below the world average.Country Comparison: Public debt (2010)
Rank country - (% of GDP) - Date of Information
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1 Japan 225.80 2010 est.
5 Greece 144.00 2010 est.
6 Iceland 123.80 2010 est.
8 Italy 118.10 2010 est.
9 Singapore 102.40 2010 est. (AAA)
10 Belgium 98.60 2010 est.
11 Ireland 94.20 2010 est.
14 France 83.50 2010 est.
15 Portugal 83.20 2010 est.
18 Hungary 79.60 2010 est.
19 Germany 78.80 2010 est. (AAA)
22 Israel 77.30 2010 est.
23 United Kingdom 76.50 2010 est. (AAA)
24 Austria 70.40 2010 est.
26 Netherlands 64.60 2010 est. (AAA)
27 Spain 63.40 2010 est.
31 Brazil 60.80 2010 est.
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35 World 59.30 2010 est.
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37 United States 58.90 2010 est. (AAA)
48 Poland 53.60 2010 est.
51 Argentina 50.30 2010 est.
55 Norway 47.70 2010 est. (AAA)
56 Denmark 46.60 2010 est.
59 Finland 45.40 2010 est. (AAA)
66 Mexico 41.50 2010 est.
67 Slovakia 41.00 2010 est.
69 Sweden 40.80 2010 est. (AAA)
72 Czech Republic 40.00 2010 est.
79 Switzerland 38.20 2010 est. (AAA)
86 Canada 34.00 2010 est. (AAA)
99 New Zealand 25.50 2010 est.
103 Korea, South 23.70 2010 est.
108 Australia 22.40 2010 est. (AAA)
113 China 17.50 2010 est.
114 Saudi Arabia 16.70 2010 est.
123 Russia 9.50 2010 est.
(AAA) - nations that currently have triple A credit rating
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2186rank.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_credit_rating
According to the Standard & Poor's rating in June 2011, 4 nations have AAA credit ratings despite having debt/GDP ratios that far exceed the world average (59.30%).
When compared to other nations, the US debt issue has been "hyped" out of all proportion to its relate size. The main reason that nations like Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, etc. that have significantly lower debt/GDP ratios than the US is simply because they have higher tax rates - something that no American Administration is willing to contemplate.
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